Page 19 of Little Did We Know
He was a money guy.He might know.
“How long has it been on the market?”he asked, taking the phone from me.He scrolled a bit.
“Four months,” I replied.“My brother thinks I should get it, but this ain’t New York.Winchester’s a solid hour and a half away from here.”
We were wired to look past any dump in New York, because the money was in the land.But as mentioned, this wasn’t Park Slope or Williamsburg.Or even Bay Ridge, for that matter.
“It’ll be one hell of a commute if you do open your business here,” Lucian responded and handed back my phone.“It’s the age-old battle between time and money.It’s a nice property, despite the renovations required.”
Yeah.A lot of renovations.The house was one storm away from collapsing.But I wasn’t strapped for time, and I had some money saved up.Plus, it came with a solid chunk of land.
“A house that size, with the land, could set you back upward of a million in this area,” he went on.“I think the only downsides are, as mentioned, the commute you’d face in the future—expenses for gas, three hours on the road every day…”
The three hours on the road didn’t bother me.I was a multitasker with a headset, and I could get shit done on my way to work.I could talk to Ma, my sisters-in-law, my nieces and nephews—and I liked listening to the radio.
When Cullen was overseas, I was Peyton’s emotional support animal.We talked a lot.Despite that she was a vegan.Out of my two sisters-in-law, she was in the top two.
“Another thing you might want to ask yourself,” Lucian continued.“If this is the type of home you want, do you think you can get something similar nearby?”
“Sure,” I answered.“If I become someone with a high-paying job and sell my soul to a bank.I’ll need to steal a rich guy’s credit score too.”
He grinned ruefully.“It’s only getting worse, to boot.This is an expensive area to live in.”
He didn’t have to tell me.Ben was currently trying to find a condo with his pregnant girlfriend, and they’d already expanded their search field.The listings he’d sent me were insane.
“Then maybe Winchester’s where it’s at for me.”I raked my teeth across my bottom lip and eyed the screen.“I’ll leave it up to faith.If the house is still on the market when I get back from Florida, I’ll reach out to the listing agent.”
“Don’t wait too long,” he advised.“Even the fixer-uppers get snatched up eventually.”
It sure as fuck wasn’t true in my case.Nobody had snatched me up.
“Does that apply to mentally banged-up jarheads too?”I asked.
He laughed.“Do you need an ego boost?”
I mean…
“From you?Sure.”
He shook his head in amusement.“Are all Marines flirts?”
“Yes.It’s in our creed.”
He found that funny too.I was a funny guy.
I checked my watch.“They should be here any minute.”
But in my world, the Tenley twins were late.We were supposed to meet up soon.
“Let’s wait inside.I’m freezin’ my balls off out hea.”I walked over to the door and opened it, letting him enter first.
I was fairly certain he and the Tenleys would get along.That was my plan with introducing them, to have a group of buddies to meet up with whenever I was in town.Which, let’s be honest, looked like it was going to become a permanent situation soon enough.
I’d texted Lucas too, but he was working late.Something about a promo campaign for his old man’s business.
* * *
By the time River and Reese showed up in matching leather jackets and black eyes, Lucian and I had been seated in our booth, and we had received our first beers.
